Mobile handsets and wireless devices increasingly include the capability to access the Internet or to establish an IP session with other devices. Typically, these IP sessions are initiated by a browser or other application on the mobile handset. The user, for example, may request information from a particular URL or may enter the URL of a website to view on the mobile device. The browser or other application establishes an IP session with the device at the designated URL and then sends a request for the desired information. The destination server acknowledges the request and then processes the request, for example, by retrieving the requested information. The destination server then sends the requested information in a response message to the wireless device, which typically acknowledges the receipt of the response.
The above-described scenario includes several sources of delay that affect the amount of time that elapses between the user's request (e.g. choosing a menu selection or entering an desired URL) and the ultimate display of the requested information on the user's mobile handset. Delays are caused by the following sources: browser application delay for the processing time required to send a request message after receiving the user's input; wireless network delay while the request message travels to a gateway to the Internet; Internet and other network delay while the request message travels to the destination server; processing time at the server while the requested information is collected and sent to the user in a response message; Internet and network delay while the response message travels to the wireless gateway; wireless network delay while the response message travels to the mobile handset; and browser delay while the requested information is received, processed and displayed.
From the user's perspective, any delay is typically attributed to the wireless service provider even though much of the delay may be outside the service provider's control, such as the Internet and other network delays and the delay caused by a third-party server. Service providers would like to measure the user-perceived delay and would like to measure the round-trip delay for IP requests. However, service providers currently can only simulate what occurs out at the user's wireless device, because it is difficult to monitor a large number of wireless devices. Accordingly, there is a need to accurately measure the network delay and user-perceived delay and to measure the cause of delay in the IP sessions for wireless devices.